THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Acclaimed Iranian film maker Majid Majidi said during an `In conversation` session at the 23d IFFK that his friends had once advised him to drop the project ` Children of Heaven`.“The road was always difficult. ‘Children of Heaven’ was refused by several production companies. It is only a brother and a sister and a shoe, no one would watch it, they said. My friends suggested me to drop the project. I never gave up. Things turned around, I found a producer who accepted to do it, but on a low budget. But then it went on to receive over a hundred awards all across the world. It got translated to over 50 languages, and the entire world watched it. It has even been incorporated into the school and university syllabi in several countries. Hard work brings success.”He said that good films should always reach the audience. They should never be termed as festival films and limited there. He was speaking at the ‘In Conversation’ session of the festival.“I’m so happy to be in Kerala. The faces of the people, who have watched my films, their feelings and joy, excite me. I have received accolades from numerous film festivals, but that is what is most important to me as a filmmaker,” he said in the session with Bina Paul, Vice Chairperson, Kerala State Chalachitra Academy He also commented on the cultural similarities between his homeland and India.On his experiences as a filmmaker, he said.

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